ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ | ᴘᴀɪɢᴇ ʙᴜᴇᴄᴋᴇʀs

0.8

'Unforgettable' French Montana

And you are unforgettable
I need to get you alone

~~~~~~~~~~~*

Paige Bueckers

The squeaking of sneakers and the sound of basketballs bouncing against the gym floor filled the air of UConn's practice facility. It was a typical morning practice for my teammates and I, our paces under the watchful eye of Geno.

We had a travel game tomorrow and needed to get as much practice in and a quick run through of our plays. We've been here since 6am and it was now pushing 9.

Coach was barking instructions at us—which wasn't necessary since we anticipated all his demands before he could even speak. After being around him for a while, you get used to his voice. The yelling didn't even sound like yelling anymore and his normal leveled voice sounded like a whisper to you.

"looks like someone's back on good terms with their lady" nika said from beside me.

I dribbled the ball a few times before shooting, getting it in the hoop on my first try. "yeah we're good"

"i can tell, all your shots are going in now" she smirked.

"i just couldn't focus knowing she was mad at me, but that's all in the past now. we're good, probably better than we were before" i gave her a light hit on the shoulder before resuming my practices.

A part of me did believe she was a distraction, but not in the way she thought it meant. I couldn't focus on just basketball when she was around. There was so many other things i could think about when i was with her and not the fact that i had to work my ass off for this team everyday. I wanted to think about taking her on dates, sleeping in at her place, cooking with her, kissing her..

As much as i wanted to think about her right now, i needed all my focus to be on the game i had tomorrow. People already think we're an ass team because of so many of our players being benched but we could only get better and prove them wrong. It was a lot of luggage to carry for the few team members that did play. We felt the need to put in our all—trying to do our best so we wouldn't make a fool of ourselves on the court and give the media something else to shit on us about.

"alright wrap it up and hit the lockers. i expect everyone to be here no later than 6:15 to get on the bus" geno's voice echoed through the gymnasium, causing my teammates to let out a sigh a of relief.

They all started to walk towards the locker rooms, except me. I felt like i was slacking for some reason and decided to practice some more before going home. We couldn't lose this game tomorrow.

"yo p! you coming?" kk asked.

"nah im staying back, i'll meet you guys later" i answered, the ball in the palm of my hands. I received a nod before they continued to walk off.

I stayed late to work on my shooting, going through my routine each time. I'd dribble the ball a few times, rise up, release the ball with perfect form, and watch it softly fall through the net time and time again. Even my most simple drills were approached with the same intensity and focus as if i were in game mode.

Consistency was something all my coaches loved about me. I kept going even when i did need to. It used to a take a toll on me but after a while—just like geno's yelling—i got used to it and what seemed intense for some people, felt like nothing to me. I knew that if i wanted to maintain my elite skills, i had to put in the time and effort, day in and day out.

By the time I finally left the gym, my teammates had showered and were long gone. Probably back home to rest up for tomorrow.

I pulled my phone out my pocket, scanning through my notifications. There was nothing interesting but i had loads of instagram notifications—more than the usual. Between basketball and school, i didn't have time to be on social media daily. Maybe tik tok, but that was only when i was bored or had time on my hands. I clicked on the app and went through my tags, my eyes widening at the posts.